The former Texas A&M improvisational quarterback measured in Friday at the NFL scouting combine at 5-11 ¾, 207 pounds, a shade under the perceived 6-foot mark traditional evaluators have long required for passers.

Asked if he had any comment on coming up just short in his measurement, the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner said, "No, sir. I play with a lot of heart. I play with a lot of passion. I play like I'm 10-feet tall. A measurement to me is just a number.''

Manziel -- a projected top-five pick in the May 8 draft -- handled himself with a confident ease before a throng of more than 300 media members during his 15-minute interview session inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

Manziel further indicated he wanted to throw during Sunday's quarterback drills, but was convinced by his agent to wait until his March 27 pro day to showcase his talents for all 32 teams.

"I'm probably one of the most competitive people on the face of this earth whether it's playing tic-tack-toe or rock-paper-scissors or whatever it may be, I want to win,'' said Manziel. "I don't like the taste of losing. I'm an extremely competitive person.

"But at the same time, I want to be a great leader as well.''

To do so, Manziel hopes to distance himself from his "Johnny Football'' bad-boy image. Off-the-field behavior questions were raised last year over an NCAA investigation into selling his autograph to memorabilia dealers, underage drinking and when he was asked to leave the Manning Passing Academy after he overslept and said he was sick.

Manziel, who turned 21 in December, was suspended for the first half of the Aggies opener against the Rice after the NCAA determined there was no evidence he made money from signing his name. However, he violated a rule that states "student athletes cannot permit their names or likenesses to be used for commercial purposes."

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Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Johnny Manziel on the field before the 2014 BCS National Championship game between the Auburn Tigers and the Florida State Seminoles at the Rose Bowl.
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Johnny Manziel of the Texas A&M Aggies rushes past Zach Wood #90 of the Southern Methodist Mustangs in the first half on September 21, 2013 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.
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Manziel denied reports that he received counseling for alcohol and anger management.

"No, sir, I don't believe those are true,'' he said Friday.

"After last spring, (Texas A&M) coach Kevin Sumlin said they had an in-house guy, wanted me to sit down and meet with him, I was more than willing to learn whatever I could from him. Those continued the last couple of years. Had a great relationship with him.

"It was really nothing more than that.''

Manziel did describe that person as a counselor before moving the conversation forward.

"It's time to put the college years in the past,'' Manziel said. "I'm just looking forward to showing up all the people that are saying I'm just an improviser. I feel like I've worked extremely hard all around to hone in on my game and I'm continuing to do that to get better as a pocket passer and a quarterback in general.''

Perhaps, that's one reason Manziel said it was "cool'' to talk with three-time Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady last week while training in San Diego, Calif.

"He told me to enjoy the process,'' Manziel said. "He kind of gave me a little joke that if I teach him how to run like I can, he'll do anything in the world for me. It was pretty funny coming from him.''

As his session wound down, new Houston Texans coach Bill O'Brien spoke at a podium at the opposite end of the interview room.

Manziel, a Tyler, Texas native, was asked what it would mean to be selected first overall by the Texans over the likes of fellow top quarterbacks Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville and Blake Bortles from Central Florida.

"I think it would be extremely cool – a Texas guy born and raised in Texas and never really left the state,'' Manziel said. "So for them to have the first pick really means a lot to me.''

He backed off somewhat from his defiant dare to the Houston Chronicle and Fort Worth Star Telegram that it would be the worst mistake the Texans ever made if they passed on him.

Maybe that is because Manziel will meet with the Texans Saturday.

There are some evaluators who feel Manziel's skill set might be so unique as an improvisational playmaker that he's too good for Houston to pass on. O'Brien, who worked with Brady from 2007 to 2011 in New England, said he doesn't have a predetermined quarterback type.

"I look for what's best for the team,'' O'Brien says. "There's no way you say you like this type of quarterback over that type of quarterback. ...In my career, I've been around quarterbacks that were 6-5 and been around quarterbacks who were 5-10, and both have been successful in what we've done offensively."

Earlier, Manziel's quarterback guru George Whitfield, Jr. pulled out a rolled up quarter-inch long laundry ticket and handed it over.

"It was Johnny who said Russell has opened the door for him and guys like him,'' Carroll said Friday. "That's true. Because prior to the last couple years, the general thinking was that a guy of Russell's stature couldn't play, which obviously is wrong.

"So anybody who said that is wrong. But not everybody that's 5-11 and a half can play quarterback.

"You've got to be a great football player and a great player and all the elements that make up Russell make him very, very unique – regardless of how tall he is.''

Whitfield has been working with Manziel since January at Mission Beach, Calif. along with Aggies receiver Mike Evans and Hall-of-Fame receiver James Lofton.

"He's improved so much in every area – taking snaps under center and the rhythm and passing game with NFL-type routes,'' Whitfield said. "His first year, Johnny was James Bond, 007. This year, he was 007. But he left his tuxedo jacket on and got smoother. And he's improved an awful lot.''

"Manziel is a great guy, actually,'' Carr said. "You hear a lot of things before you get here.

"He's very humble. He's very genuine. He's very kind. He's been great the whole time we've been here, just one of the guys.

"I hope he has the greatest career that he can have.

"He's a really good dude.''

Whitfield feels there is a change taking place among NFL talent evaluators from strictly preferring traditional pocket passers but to embracing improvisational passers such as Manziel, Eastern Illinois' Jimmy Garoppolo and Virginia Tech's Logan Thomas.

"When Cam Newton came in as the first pick in 2011, he created his own lane,'' Whitfield says. "Johnny is going to be like that.'

"I do I get it. The highlights people see on him show him out on the boundary making people miss.

"But the numbers, his stats show a progression from his freshman year to his sophomore year.

"The way he won his first year, defenses caught up and he had to mutate to something else.''

The league is becoming more open to that "something else'' new-age quarterbacks starting with Newton as the first overall pick in 2011 followed by Robert Griffin III, Wilson and Colin Kaepernick during the 2012 draft.

"There are now two doorways open -- the classic pocket guy will always be there,'' Whitfield says. "The new prerequisite is you have to be able to beat a defender somehow one on one, whether it's Ben Roethlisberger with a stiff arm or with your legs to extend outside the framework of a play.''